Looking for a top free firewall for Windows 7? Here you find all you want to know about top free firewalls for Windows 7 including, but not limited to, the Windows 7 built-in firewall. In this article you also find background information as well as valuable tips concerning Windows 7 top firewalls.
Introduction
There used to be much more free firewalls software for Windows until Microsoft built in a firewall in its Windows XP operating system. That Windows integrated firewall has been beefed up in Windows Vista and further improved in Windows 7.
Also taking into account suggestions from our readers posted as comments the following vendors or free top firewall software products make up the candidates. They have been last checked for official Windows 7 compatibility on 29 October 2009.
Candidates
- Ashampoo FireWall FREE Version - www.ashampoo.com
- Blink Personal Edition - free-antivirus.eeye.com
- Comodo Firewall - personalfirewall.comodo.com
- Online Armor Firewall - www.tallemu.com
- Outpost Firewall - free.agnitum.com
- PC Tools Firewall Plus - www.pctools.com
- Sunbelt Personal Firewall Version - www.sunbeltsoftware.com
- VirusBuster Internet Security Suite
- Windows 7 Firewall Control - www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/order.html
- ZoneAlarm Basic Firewall - http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-gb/anti-virus-spyware-free-download.htm
Again: Many former vendors of free firewalls (e.g. Tiny, BlackIce, and Kerio) have been taken over or disappeared from the market. Therefore, the Top Free Firewalls for Windows 7 candidate list might be smaller than what you have expected.
Not all free Windows 7 compatible firewalls are top products. To be listed here a software must have been rated very good or excellent, but in most cases when a firewall software / vendor is not listed it is due to a lack of Windows 7 compatibility, not quality. The comments section at the end of this article sometimes gives the reason or contains more background information.
Comodo Firewall
Rating 
The award winning Comodo Firewall and the top-notch Comodo anti-virus software have been merged into free Comodo Internet Security. Users of 64-bit computers make sure to change to 64-bit Windows 7 /Vista / XP SP2 in the Choose Operating System drop-down menu, and please note that you can instruct setup to install either component or both as depicted in the second screenshot below.
The Comodo firewall is easy to install without complex configuration issues, yet the multi-award winning software prevents malware from entering your computer and gives you control which application run on your PC using Default Deny Protection (DDP): If the Comodo firewall doesn't recognize an application it assumes it to be hostile - a very effectice way to deal with new unknown threats. Last but not least can the Comodo firewall send personalized alerts, and updates automatically.
The Comodo Internet Security is definitively one of the best free PC security products available!
PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition
Rating
PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition comes with predefined firewall protection profiles based on location (e.g. home or public), automatic application blocking and comprehensive network shielding to keep hackers out of your system and malware at bay. Experienced users can create or edit advanced packet filtering rules; IPv6 support is also included in PC Tools’ Firewall Plus 6 for Windows (free Edition).
Windows 7 Built-in Firewall
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Until there is more choice why not stick with the Windows 7 free firewall which, by default, is turned on? You can view and configure the Windows 7 integrated firewall in Control Panel / Security Center.
You may be interested to learn that a Bright Hub colleague has come up with a series of articles describing how to use the Windows 7 firewall and discussing topics such as Do You Need a Third-Party Firewall with Windows 7?
The Bottom Line
Besides a firewall you need to have have a capable antivirus software such as the one’s mentioned in Bright Hub’s article Top Antivirus Software for Windows 7 installed. Yet, for optimal and total PC protection (*), or simply for more choice you may want to have look at premium products combining anti-virus, antimalware and firewall protection.You also find information about them by following the link at the beginning of this section.
(*) Do I Really Need to Buy an Antivirus Program? Are Paid Products Really Better than Free Products?